Tag: Geert Wilders

The Syrian refugee crisis has fanned the flames of right-wing extremism in Bulgaria, signaling yet more nationalistic political sentiment in Europe. No one’s predicting a return of the 1930s rise of fascism, but the parallels are disturbing.

Depending on how you see it, a Dutch court’s acquittal Thursday of controversial politician Geert Wilders is an instance of hate speech gone unpunished or, as Wilders himself put it, “a victory for freedom of expression in the Netherlands.”

Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders’ words are coming back to haunt him—in court. Wilders, an ultra-right-wing member of the Netherlands parliament, has drawn fire in recent years for his vocal anti-Islam stance, which he has expressed both in cinematic form and in what prosecutors in Amsterdam allege is hate speech.

Exit polls show the notoriously anti-immigrant Dutch politician Geert Wilders gaining 15 percent of the vote and second place in elections for the European Parliament in the Netherlands—even as he faces prosecution on charges of inciting hatred in his speeches.

Conservative Dutch politician Geert Wilders certainly isn’t helping resolve religious and cultural tensions within his country with the release of his short film “Fitna” (running time 17 minutes), which portrays Islam in an extremely negative light. According to the BBC, the Dutch government “has distanced itself” from Wilders’ views. Good idea.

Those around the world who had trouble accessing YouTube on Sunday may be interested to know the cause of the problem: On Friday, the Pakistani Telecommunications Authority acted to block access to YouTube in order to prevent Pakistanis from seeing a YouTube clip promoting an anti-Islam film by Dutch politician Geert Wilders (pictured). Thus ensued an accidental chain reaction that blocked YouTube access for many thousands internationally. Now, the popular site is back up, even in Pakistan.